THE CHRISTIAN HOME IN A MODERN WORLD
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE:
EDEUTERONOMY 6: 3-9 MATTHEW 19:3-9
Key Verse
“The words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart. And you shall repeat them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up”.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
INTRODUCTION
Now let us be honest with each other for this is a very important Study Lesson. We know that children will often tune oit parents when parents speak to them and try to teach them. In fact this is normal behaviour for we are told by the experts that children model themselves based on the behaviour of their parents and not according to the words of the parents. It is therefore most important for parents to be great models for their children for in doing so they will be more easily able to teach the children that they when they grow up should be good models for their children.
Unfortunately many times there is a breakdown in what should be done in parenting. Moses faced that problem when the children of Israel were about to go into the land of Canaan, the Promised Land, a land which was described as flowing with milk and honey.
Moses was speaking to a group of men and women, boys and girls, who were all under the age of 20 for their parents disobeyed God to such a great extent while they were travelling through the wilderness toward the Promised Land God swore in His anger that He would punish them by not allowing those older disobedient parents to enter into the land of Canaan. Only their children would enter the land. So Moses had a difficult job to make these young people understand that they were faced with tremendous challenges but they had to learn that the Almighty God had taken their parents and them out of slavery in Egypt and had protected them through the waters of the Red Sea, and had protected them against the hostile nations through whose land they traveled.
So the first thing Moses told these young people was that they had to fear the Lord their God. That means that they should reverence Him, obey Him, respect, Him, trust Him, and worship Him. They did not have to be afraid of Him for God had shown them His love, of His kindness, His compassion, and His grace over the many years of travel. Now God was about to give them the land of Canaan that He had promised them.
God told these young people to establish godly homes in the difficult circumstances in which they found themselves. To succeed in this they had to love God with all their heart and listen attentively to His words and follow His words.
They had to teach their children about the love of God and the great things that God had done for them. They had to teach their children that they in turn should teach their children so that the grandchildren, the great grandchildren, and all the children in their family line would be blessed by God.
We know that we are redeemed by God just as Israel was a redeemed people. We therefore have to understand that we have to love God with all our heart and keep Him at the front of our thoughts. We have to teach our children about God using different strategies while we are at home, and at times such as meal times which we should have together to discuss the experiences of life both of the parents and of the children, and to listen to what had happened to the children in their daily lives so that we could give them an understanding message.
Then Moses told the people that they should talk to the children while it was time to go to bed, and find things about nature and the beauty and the glory of God’s creation while they were out of the house. They should be taught about the glory of God’s salvation and they should be taught that they should pass this lesson to their children.
So it is important then that if we want to have a Christian home in this very difficult society where there are many people that do not like to live godly lives, and who prefer to follow ways of life that lead to disastrous things like drug addiction, violence, and all kinds of criminality, we should learn the ways of God and follow them. Loving God and loving each other while listening and following the direction of the Holy Spirit will make the Christian home in a modern world a beautiful home. It will be a beautiful picture for the world to see. Many that did not appreciate God would now begin to appreciate the blessings that God had brought by the modern Christian home.